Final Thoughts

The Detroit Tigers ride Justin Verlander's 7 inning, 11 strikeouts pitching performance to a 1-0 ALDS series lead against the Oakland Athletics. Game two of the series is tomorrow at noon. Despite Verlander's performance, which was dominant and fun to watch, I think what I'll remember most about this game is Pat Neshek coming out and being effective out of the bullpen for the Oakland A's so shortly after losing his newborn son. Sometimes we overrate what athletes have to overcome, but in Neshek's case, I don't really think that's possible.

That's kind of a bummer note to end tonight's baseball coverage here from the Guardian, but maybe we can take some solace in the knowledge that his wonderful game can help take our mind off of troubles, even if for the shortest bit of time.

Thanks to everyone for reading this evening, particularly those who have contributed. The Guardian will have live coverage throughout the MLB Playoffs, and I'll be back here livetweeting game one of Nationals/Cardinals tomorrow at 2:30pm EST. Ciao!

2.03am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Final

The Oakland A's have to be ONE more failed Red Sox who is now flourishing before the game is over, don't they? They bring out catcher George Kottaras, whose job is simply not to be the final out.

He instead hits a high pop up to Fielder to end the ball game. The Detroit Tigers have beaten the Oakland A's!

2.02am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 9th

With one down and nobody on, Seth Smith is up next for Oakland. He falls to 1-2, as Valverde is throwing nothing but fastballs for strikes. Smith swings and whiffs at the fourth pitch of the at-bat. The A's are down to their final out of the game here.

1.59am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 9th

The good news for the Oakland A's is that Jose Valverde (Spanish for "Todd Jones") is out there to close things out for the Detroit Tigers. He's the definition of a heart attack closer, so don't be surprised if there's still some drama here.

Josh Donaldson is up first for Oakland, Valverde strikes him out. Come on, man, that's not narrative I'm trying to set up for you!

1.55am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 8th

Prince Fielder decides he wants to hit a long out too, so he flies out to Cespedes to end the inning. This leads us to the ninth inning, to see if the Oakland A's could possibly rally.

1.53am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 8th

Miguel Cabrera, the best player on the planet not named Mike Trout, comes out for what might be the final time of the game. He teases the crowd with a foul line drive that would have been extra bases if fair. Instead he ends up hitting a fly that's fair but very catchable.

1.51am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 8th

The Oakland A's bring out Jerry Blevins to replace Pat Neshek, thankfully because I'm no good liveblogging that close to tears. He gets a pinch-hitting Avisail Garcia to line out to Stephen Drew for the first out.

1.48am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 8th

The sometimes free-swinging Josh Reddick falls behind Benoit, who gets him to whiff to end the inning. What a deflating half-inning for Oakland fans.

1.46am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 8th

Cespedes hits a single into the outfield, a ball that could have been a double but Berry corrals it. Brandon Moss comes out and *almost* hits a game-tying home run that Dirks manages to haul in.

That could have been the A's last, best chance right there.

Updated at 1.46am BST

1.43am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 8th

Joaquin Benoit comes out to relieve Justin Verlander for the Detroit Tigers. He gets Stephen Drew to ground out back to him for the first out of the eighth.

Meanwhile, Pat Neshek is very, very emotional in the A's dugout. I have no idea how he did what he just did. Maybe sometimes when your world is collapsing, your job offers some small amount of escape.

1.40am BST

Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers throws a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during Game One of the American League Division Series at Comerica Park. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

1.37am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 7th

Neshek gets Austin Jackson to strike out to end the inning, which reminds me that before Jackson's breakthrough year #AustinJacksonStrikesOut was a common Twitter hashtag.

1.36am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 7th

Pat Neshek, so shortly after losing his newborn son, is out to pitch for the Oakland A's and this is one of those times that a real world tragedy completely overshadows what's going on on the field. My heart goes out to him and his entire family.

Still, there's baseball to be played here. Neshek comes in to face Omar Infante with runners on first and second with one out. He gets Infante to almost hit into a double play, but he's called safe at first. Dirks makes it to third on the play.

1.31am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 7th

The catcher Avila almost questions the umpire's strike call himself here, but he realizes he probably shouldn't question a zone that helped his guy quite a bit. He hits a line-drive base hit in front of Cespedes anyways. A's manager Bob Melvin comes out, and that's going to end Parker's night.

1.29am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 7th

Parker gets Peralta to strike out for the first out of the inning. It's Parker's fifth strikeout. Verlander probably finds that adorable.

1.26am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 7th

Jarrod Parker, who has had a pretty nifty game of his own but definitely not in Verlander's category, starts off the seventh facing Andy Dirks. Dirks hits a single.

The A's bullpen is busy behind Parker, who is probably not long for this game.

Dan Brooks (@brooksbaseball)

Verlander now with 20+ whiffs. You can complain all you want about the strikezone, but you know what always gets called a strike? Whiffs.

Seventh Inning Stretch!

I said I would wait a few games into the postseason before using the Marx Brothers' version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" from "A Night at the Opera" for one of these liveblogs, but I just couldn't help myself.

I see Harpo Marx as having a wicked change-up.

1.19am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 7th

Instead Coco Crisp hits a tiny tapper and that ends the inning.

1.18am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 7th

The crowd really wants to see the seventh end with Pennington striking out, but instead he walks him. Coco Crisp is up to represent the tying run.

There's the first activity in the Tigers bullpen here, as all these strikeouts might have pushed Verlander's pitch count to an unacceptable limit. So, good job Oakland A's, I guess? You did your job?

1.16am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 7th

After taking two balls outside Derek Norris takes a 97mph strike, my god is Justin Verlander in the zone here. It looks like Norris has no chance here, and he doesn't. He swings at a 98mph heater he can't even touch and becomes the eleventh strikeout victim here.

1.13am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 7th

Seth Smith steps up in the seventh and sees three straight strikes. That will be Verlander's tenth strikeout of the game. He's made double digit.

1.09am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 6th

Jarrod Parker starts of the bottom of the sixth to face Miguel Cabrera, the should-be MVP runner up hits a long flyball. The Detroit fans scream as is it's going out, but Cabrera just got under the ball so it's just a routine flyball. Prince Fielder then hits a liner right into Stephen Drew's glove, and it's two down just as quick as that. Parker gets Delmon Young to strike out and... Well, I guess that's that. Onto the seventh!

1.03am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 6th

Donaldson's up next. He's Verlander's ninth strikeout victim. The A's are looking at the home plate umpire in disgust, but Verlander is more than earning the tad generous strike zone he's getting.

Aaron M (@hurricanept)

@hunterfelt Brandon Moss is hitting fourth in the ALDS. BRANDON MOSS IS HITTING FOURTH IN THE ALDS. This will never not be weird.

He wasn't good enough to be a Pittsburgh Pirate in what may have been the worst Pirates system of recent years!

1.01am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 6th

Reddick gets into an 0-2 hole, that's more of the Reddick I knew and loathed as a Red Sox. The next pitch Reddick sees, he fouls off, and, yeah that was Verlander's 100th pitch, so forget what I said about a possible complete game here.

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Top 6th

Justin Verlander is out for his sixth inning. If he can get a 1-2-3 inning here, he could be on his way to a complete game. If Verlander pitches the entire game, the Detroit Tigers are winning this thing. So, that's something to be aware about.

Brandon Moss, probably just looking not to strike out here, starts off the inning for the A's. He fails again. That's the seventh strikeout for Verlander, although it should only count for 2/3rds of a k when it's Moss.

12.55am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 5th

Quintin Berry strikes out to end the fifth. Another quick inning for Parker, but the Tigers tack on an extra run. This might be all the cushion Verlander needs.

12.52am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 5th

Infante grounds out to third before the home run celebrations are even over perhaps he was distracted and was wondering if he should contact the lawyers for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Austin Jackson is up next and he hits a pop-up that falls and falls and falls... but Josh Reddick makes a terrific catch to prevent it from hitting the ground.

12.50am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 3, Bottom 5th

RUN! Alex Avila is out against Jarrod Parker, and hits a ball a long way. It's gone and the fans in Detroit are waving terrible towels which... That's a copyright violation isn't it?

12.48am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Top 5th

Cespedes takes a big swing almost as soon as he gets to the plate, and grounds out to third. That was not what the A's needed to do to get Verlander out of this game quickly.

We're halfway through nine innings here, so it's about time for me to ask for your questions, comments, predictions, jokes, hints, allegations and things better left unsaid. Tweet @HunterFelt or send an email to hunter.felt.freelance@guardiannews.com and we'll publish them here.

12.45am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Top 5th

Coco Crisp hits a line drive, but hits it right at Berry who catches it in the outfield, Pennington has to make his way back to first. One down for Stephen Drew who is quickly down himself. He's Verlander's sixth strikeout victim here, or at least the home plate umpire claims he is, Drew's arguing the call.

12.40am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Top 5th

Let's see if the Oakland A's can make something happen here. First up it's Pennington, who I'm just going to refer to with his last name from here on out because I WILL call him Chad otherwise. Honestly, just pushing up the pitch count could be their goal here.

Pennngton hits his first career hit off Verlander, now was a good time for that.

12.38am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Bottom 4th

Peralta follows up Dirks, and he almost gets hits with a Parker change-up. He hits a liner on the next pitch, but hits it foul to the disappointment of the fans. Peralta strikes out and Delmon Young gets caught stealing. That was about the worst thing that could have happened there for the Tigers.

Steve Busfield (@Busfield)

@hunterfelt Are the #Tigers the chunkiest team in MLB? There's a few men of heft in that lineup (and I'm not just talking about Prince)

I haven't read any studies, now *this* would be a Baseball Prospectus article, but strictly from my experience making incredibly unfair baseball jokes, they're currently the easiest "out-of-shape baseball team" to use as a punchline.

At one point this was the "we're not selling jeans" Oakland A's, it should be noted.

12.32am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Bottom 4th

Andy Dirks hits a long flyball for the first out. Well, at least that was quick, chin up Jarrod.

12.31am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Bottom 4th

Bottom of the fourth, I think this is the key inning of the game. If the Tigers can score another run off of Parker, that might give Verlander all he needs. On the other hand, if Parker can shut the Tigers down with ease, that will give Oakland a decent chance going forward.

Parker his Young with a pitch. Okay, I'm guessing he's still a tad bit rattled after last inning. So much for "shutting down with ease".

12.28am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Top 4th

Norris is up next for the Oakland A's, trying to salvage something from this once-promising evening. He falls behind early, man am I typing that a lot here, and then pops up to short to end the inning.

12.25am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Top 4th

Seth Smith is up next, and he hits a ground ball to Omar Infante that would have been a difficult double play to pull off, and Reddick makes it impossible. Smith replaces Reddick at first, and there's now two out in the inning.

12.24am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Top 4th

Josh Donaldson is up with Reddick on first and nobody out. Donaldson almost hit one out off of Verlander last at-bat, so maybe he can make something happen. Instead Donaldson just strikes out, the fifth strikeout victim for Verlander. Does he get to double digits this game? Not out of the question, as he tends to throw harder as the game goes on and these are the A's.

12.20am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Top 4th

Josh Reddick is here to leadoff the fourth as the A's have the tough task of recovering the run they gave up last inning off of Justin Verlander. Reddick works a walk, which is a good start for Oakland.

Karl Welzein (@DadBoner)

SICK OF HAVIN' THIS DAMN SONG IN MY HEAD! TRYIN' TO WATCH THE TIGERS! Gonna drink it outta my head. Poundin' BL Nums like blue lightning.

Meanwhile, Karl Welzein, my favorite fictional character on Twitter and diehard Tigers fan, has been trying to watch the game but unfortunately has a Maroon 5 song stuck in his head.

12.16am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Bottom 3rd

Prince Fielder hits a sky-high pop up that Pennington manages to run down to end the inning. That could have been worse for the A's.

12.14am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Bottom 3rd

Parker ends up walking Cabrera, not challenging the second best player in the American League with first base open. Of course, this means Prince Fielder is up with runners on first and second.

12.13am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Bottom 3rd

And here I thought that the unearned run would be on Detroit. Wow.

Miguel Cabrera is up next against Parker, and one has to wonder if the young pitcher could possibly be rattled right here after making the key error with a speedster looking to steal on first.

Parker makes a few throws to first but it doesn't dissuade Berry who shortly safely steals second anyways. Meanwhile, Parker has already fallen behind Cabrera 2-1.

Updated at 12.13am BST

12.10am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 2, Bottom 3rd

RUN! Quintin Berry is up, and makes a quasi-one-handed swing at the first pitch from Parker. He wants to score this run, you can almost see it. So can Parker, he freezes Berry with a 93 mph pitch at the knees to make it 0-2. Berry doesn't chase a Parker pitch pretty off the plate or a fastball that falls into the dirt. Parker's next pitch is high and outside the zone. It's a full count and the pressure's all on Parker to make a great pitch.

He gets Berry to hit a trickler that Parker gets to but flips it to nobody. Berry's safe at first and Infante scores all the way from second on the error.

12.06am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Bottom 3rd

Omar Infante, hanging out at the bottom of Detroit's lineup, is up next, and he hits a line-drive double. Austin Jackson is back up with Infante on second, and he pops out on a few pitches.

12.03am BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Bottom 3rd

Alex Avila, the Tigers' primarily catcher (especially with DH/catcher Victor Martinez being out for the season) starts the inning off against Parker. Parker, still working quickly, strikes him out on a handful of pitches.

11.59pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Top 3rd

...And Moss does. Even when Verlander fell behind 3-0 I had no doubt on that one.

11.58pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Top 3rd

Cespedes, who is on the successful first year of a four year deal, is up with Drew on second. Verlander gets ahead of him 0-2 and then jams him up on pitch third. Cespedes grounds out to Cabrera without moving the runner. There's two down for Brandon Moss who I'm just going to assume strikes out. ::hovers his cursor around "Save and launch" and waits::

11.54pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Top 3rd

Stephen Drew hits a line drive almost to the warning track for a stand-up double. The A's are making some solid contact off of Verlander.

11.53pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Top 3rd

Justin Verlander had to throw quite a few pitchers last inning, Parker? Not so much. That might be a key here, as the Tigers bullpen is not one of their strengths. Here's Coco Crisp again, I didn't get a chance to mention this earlier, but he's something of a straight-forward fastball pitcher. Expect a lot of off-speed stuff this at-bat.

Crisp manages to see six pitches, working a 2-2 count against Verlander. Crisp pops up to Dirks on the seventh pitch, however, winning the battle at least.

11.48pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Bottom 2nd

Delmon Young, or Elmon Young as my friend Alex calls him thanks to his lack of defense, hits a liner off Parker but Stephen Drew grabs it on the first hop and guns it to first base to get Young out. Andy Dirks comes up next, and hits a line drive right at Cespedes for the second out of the inning before I can even describe Stephen Drew's play. Jhonny Peralta then "gorunds otu" to end the inning.

11.42pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Top 2nd

Cliff "No Not Chad" Pennington is up next. He's never had a hit against Justin Verlander. He still doesn't. He strikes out instead.

11.40pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Top 2nd

Catcher Derek Norris, and even HE doesn't know who he is, is up next with Seth Smith on first, hits into a fielder's choice that eliminates Smith at first.

Updated at 11.42pm BST

11.38pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Top 2nd

Seth Smith, exactly the kind of fringe non-toolsy ballplayer that would be an ideal subject for "Moneyball II: Ball Money-er" takes the second Verlander walk of the game.

11.36pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Top 2nd

Justin Verlander is out for his second inning of work with the damage done by Coco Crisp's leadoff home run already effectively erased. Reset button pressed!

Josh Donaldson leads off the inning with a long fly that could have been a home run at a different ballpark, but was just a long, loud out here at Comerica.

11.31pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Bottom 1st

The ironically-named first baseman Prince Fielder, whose infield defense is rarely very royal, is up next with the bases cleared. He hits the ball a long way, but not that far, as it's caught in the outfield to end the inning.

11.28pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 1, Bottom 1st

RUN! As I said, you'd rather see Miguel Cabrera with two runners on than just one runner at third.

Well, here Cabrera grounds into a double play, that scores the game-tying run at least. Parker will probably take it though.

11.27pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 0, Bottom 1st

With Jackson on second base, Quintin "Franken" Berry is up next with the job to at least move the runner up. It looks like he's trying for a bunt, which I'm not sure is the wisest move with, you know, the Triple Crown winner hitting behind you. Instead he hits a ball off the glove of the third baseman Donaldson, which is scored a base hit. That's runners on the corners with nobody out.

11.24pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 0, Bottom 1st

Jarrod Parker, a damn fine pitcher of his own right if no Verlander, starts off things for the Oakland A's. Austin Jackson hits a liner that Stephen Drew just can't get to, and Jackson runs it out into a double.

11.20pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 0, Top 1st

Up next for the Oakland A's? The Chronicles Of Josh Reddick who has become a middle-of-the-order threat AND a quality defender in the outfield away from the Boston Red Sox. Okay, I may still be a little bitter about that. He works a full count on Verlander, pushing up that pitch count (at least one "Moneyball"-era strategy the A's still employ) but strikes out on the payoff pitch.

11.17pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 0, Top 1st

Verlander almost picks off Cespedes at first, with Brandon Moss at the plate. Moss falls behind 0-2 almost immediately. That's more like the Brandon Moss that the Pirates tossed. He strikes out on a Verlander change-up that's just completely unfair compared to his heater.

A's 1 - Tigers 0, Top 1st

Yoenis Cespedes, the Cuban defector who has immediately started hitting in the heart of the order for Oakland, is up next. Cespedes works a full count against the still-reigning American League MVP.

Cespedes takes ball four. The good news for the Tigers is that Verlander gets better as the game goes on.

11.11pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 0, Top 1st

So, that was a good start for Oakland, I'd say. Stephen Drew is up, and the good news about that home run for Verlander is that Coco Crisp isn't on base so he doesn't have to worry about him stealing on him. J.D. Drew's little brother hits a routine flyball for the first out of the game.

11.09pm BST

A's 1 - Tigers 0, Top 1st

RUN! Coco Crisp is up against Justin Verlander to start the series up. Verlander, no surprise here, throws a strike to start things off. Verlander's second pitch is outside, Coco swings at ball three and can't get to it. No shame in that.

On 1-2, Coco Crisp hits a home run. Wow.

11.05pm BST

Tweets

Edward Emmerson (@edwardemmerson)

@hunterfelt Im a tigers fan, gotta get up at 6am. But gonna put alarm on for1, 2, 3 hours time to check scores.

Predictions

Just to get into the fray before the series starts, and I will be busy here in the hours beforehand, I should give my prediction on the NLDS series between the Giants and the Reds. In my comment on David Lengel's preview I went with Giants over Reds in five games. I do not remember my reasons for doing so quite honestly, but I'm standing by my picks on that series as well. Maybe I was reading coffee grains.

10.51pm BST

What the tea leaves say

As I mentioned last liveblog, Emma Span of Sports on Earth thought outside of the box when she wrote up her MLB playoff previews. She consulted a psychic tea leaf reader. Since, as A's manager Billy "Looks Nothing Like Brad Pitt In Real Life" Beane has said, the postseason is a crapshoot. So why not bring in a psychic? Certainly they couldn't do worse than the experts here. Here's what the tea leaves said about our teams tonight, and how Emma interpreted the interpreter:

Oakland A's

Fahrusha Reads the Tea Leaves: Fahrusha sees “a particular weakness or fatal error of a catching person --” not a catcher, she clarifies, but just someone catching a ball -- which “could be general or particular.” Also, “A very outstanding person with odd habits, that may come to the fore in the playoffs in some way.

“They look like they have a very vibrant team, a very energetic or perhaps young team.”

My Take: Good call on the youth and vibrancy from Fahrusha, who, again, did not know she was talking about the A’s. Given all the inexperience and youth on the team, a big error isn’t exactly hard to imagine; and this team is full of outstanding people with odd habits. Does Josh Reddick pieing people while dressed as Spider-Man qualify?

Detroit Tigers

Fahrusha Reads the Tea Leaves: “There’s somebody on this team with a wonderful sense of humor, well-renowned for wisecracks, stuff like that. I don’t think that’s going to help the team though. Things look a little undisciplined here. There seems to be some amount of chaos. I see there will be some unusual plays happening for this team. Two of something or a double-something that will have an unusual outcome. And players should all wear the proper safety equipment around the eyes.”

My Take: Yeesh, is the Tigers’ defense so terrible that they need to be wearing goggles, lest they throw the ball in each other’s faces? Give Fahrusha credit on this one, because “unusual plays” certainly abound with this infield, although let’s hope it won’t be an actual safety issue.

10.46pm BST

Predictions

So, the Oakland A's will be facing the Detroit Tigers in a five game series. I assume most people have the Detroit Tigers, looking at the fact that they can throw out Justin Verlander twice in the series and have a lineup filled with dangerous bats. Me? I'm going with the Oakland A's. No, I don't really have any reason here other than it's a fun thing to root for. I think the A's will win in five games, getting a surprise win tonight. As I mentioned earlier, I see Verlander pitching a gem but the defense failing the Tigers. Oakland 2 - Tigers 1, with the winning run being unearned.

Preamble

The MLB Playoffs got to a pretty exciting start yesterday. First, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves, with the aid of a controversial call, bringing Chipper Jones's Hall of Fame career to an abrupt end. Then, the unlikely Baltimore Orioles, starting the immortal Joe Saunders, defeated the Texas Rangers, winners of back-to-back American League pennants, in a one-game playoff that likely marked the end of outfielder Josh Hamliton's Rangers career. Not a bad first day of the postseason, excitement-wise.

The Rangers, of course, weren't even supposed to have been in the one-game Wild Card playoff. As early as Sunday, many experts (along with jokey bloggers) had already conceded the AL West to Texas. The also-unlikely Oakland Athletics, however, had different plans, beating them out for the division on the final day of the regular season (aided by a key Josh Hamilton error, it should be noted). Can the A's, a team that consists of anonymous strike throwing young pitchers, outfielders that were thrown away by the Boston Red Sox and a talented Cuban defector actually go even further? Could they defeat a Detroit Tigers team that features the best pitcher in baseball in Justin Verlander and a triple crown winner in Miguel Cabrera?

Man, if only there were some sort of five-game series that the two teams could play in order to sort this out. Oh wait, there totally is! It's called the American League Division Series and it's absolutely about to be on. Hey, you know, it's a good thing that I have David Lengel's MLB playoff preview on hand, not to mention the Guardian's playoff schedule. This way I can keep track of all this.

Tonight's game will be a difficult one for the Oakland A's though. Justin Verlander is on the mound, a strikeout wizard who is facing one of the most strikeout-prone offenses in the playoffs. Oakland's responding by putting unproven rookie right-hander Jarrod Parker on the mound. So, yeah, the Tigers seem to have the edge for this game, but what do these A's care about what's expected? I suspect it will be fun either way: Either we'll get to see Verlander pitch a gem of a game in the postseason or we'll see Oakland play Detroit in a tight game to the very end. Heck, given the catastrophic joke that is the Detroit defense, I wouldn't be shocked if Verlander flirts with a no-hitter tonight yet the A's win a game decided by an unearned run.

Well, we're about to find out. This is your daily reminder that we're an interactive outfit here at the Guardian, and we always want to hear from you. You can email your questions, comments, favorite "Moneyball" quotes, jokes and concerns to hunter.felt.freelance@guardiannews.com or tweet them to @HunterFelt, and we'll use them here in this liveblog. It's the Oakland Athletics vs. the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, first pitch is at 6:07pm EST. We'll be back in a few minutes with starting lineups, predictions and assorted tomfoolery.